Important events
Ali Martin’s competition report is in the building.
Well, I am a spent strength and I only had 13 overs to cover. Not for the first time I wonder how the players are doing. Our match report will be soon. Thank you for your company, correspondence and ideas for clubs that can welcome Alfie Sparrow, our man in TOOTING.
The last e -mail about that subject comes from Gary Naylor. “A word of warning to Mr. Sparrow,” he begins, seriously. “I moved to Toting 39 years ago – I still have to escape … Actually it is the London experience at its sharpest, forever and sick, and I would not live anywhere else now.”
England continues to lose the first game of a series. And South Africa keep winning. But not much can be read in this. It was just a romp, staged on a swamp.
So it was, as advertised, a long night and a short competition. Under ridiculous pressure, six batters were handled very well – and four of them were South African. Aiden Markram showed the road with 28 from 14 balls, and his young knives took the hint. Dewald Brevis hit 23 out of 10, Donovan Ferreira 25 out of 11, and Tristan Stubbs 13 out of seven. It did not matter that the other three SA -stroke people have only made three between them.
For England, almost everything that could go wrong, with Harry Brook, such a great talent, went to play a really terrible innings of none of four balls. Sam Curran did well with death with 10 out of three, but had no support. Only Jos Butler was really working with 25 out of 11. The old boy stood on the burning deck.
South Africa wins with 14 runs (DLS)
A few of Curran, a dot of jackets, and that’s that. South Africa was far too good for England, although they also had the circumstances better – hell, they had a full 7.5 overs to bat.
4.4 Overs: England 53-5 (Jacks 1, Curran 9) Jacks can only get one if he processes a complete throw. The game is up.
4.3 Overs: England 52-5 (Jacks 0, Curran 9) Curran shoots its second ball – and it has fallen! They walk three. England needs 17 from three balls. Technically possible.
4.2 Overs: England 49-4 (Jacks 0, Curran 6) Sam Curran took a wicket with his first ball as a bowler. Now, as a batter, he beats his first ball six! A nice swing over the ground.
“Press South Africa back,” says Ein Morgan, a little optimistic.
Wicket! Banton C Markram B Bosch 5 (England 43-4)
And another one! Banton, cheated by a slower ball, gets an easy catch. England needs 26 of five balls. Good luck with that.
Wicket! Buttler C Rickelton B Jansen 25 (England 43-3)
4th about: England 43-4 (Banton 5) Curtains for Buttler, and for England! The only batter to get started, a tame end – an inner edge.
3.5 Overs: England 43-3 (Button 25, Banton 5) Banton produces some finesse! A delicate glide for three. And then Jansen takes his bouncer, too high, so it’s a wide. England needs 26 of seven balls – anything but impossible.
3.4 Overs: England 39-3 (Button 25, Banton 2) Buttler has a pull-hits and it is a dot. Then a single, if another appetite has failed. England needs sixth.
3.2 Overs: England 38-3 (Button 24, Banton 2) While Jansen continues, Banton takes a tight single, making the strike on Buttler – who waves six.
3rd about: England 31-3 (Button 18, Banton 1) Due to a grill of the rules, Aiden Markram can only use three bowlers. His third is Corbin Bosch, who is immediately searched six By Buttler – a beautiful shot, the flatest flat pulls. But then Bosch bite back by taking Brook’s big wicket. And he also gets Tom Banton almost as a review for LBW yields the call from a referee. SA sails to victory unless Buttler can go. England needs 38 from two overs.
Wicket! Brook C Rickelton B Bosch 0 (England 28-3)
Brook finally puts the bat on the ball, and it is an even worse shot than the one he missed. It goes straight up in the air, to be comfortably caught by Ryan Rickelton. There is such a thing as innings of a captain, and it wasn’t.
2nd about: England 21-2 (Buttler 10, Brook 0) Harry Brook of course starts with his falling slope. And fog. Marco Jansen, possibly irritated by this, gives him a hell of a bouncer – who applies four Byes. Brook is doing well not to be beheaded by it, but he can be disturbed while missing his next slog. He has none of them. In the meantime, Buttler looked at that whole from the other end. Sa well at the top.
Wicket! Bethell C Ferreira B Jansen 7 (England 17-2)
Bethell waves a six leg, such as David Gower – but then sends an upper edge immediately to cover.
1st about: England 11-1 (Buttler 10, Bethell 1) Take out or go out, they say – and salt succeeded both at the same time. In Comes Jacob Bethell, fresh from his first senior hundred. Hurded by Rabada, he manages to push a single. Jos Butler misses his first slope and then runs a four in the ground, touches his second driveway sixAnd fog with his third. So Rabada comes out without admitting the 14 or so demand rate. A bit of pressure on Bethell now … with only three balls left in the powerplay.
Wicket! Salt C Maphaka B Rabada 0 (England 0-1)
Rabada, such as Sam Curran, strikes with his first ball! Salt turns directly to the man on long leg.
Rabada Tig on the new ball. And all he has to do is by coming across for 13 runs or less.
The hover cover reluctantly leaves the stage. And Phil Salt and Jos Buttler wait at the Toblerone and wonder if they can afford a single point ball.
England needs 69 of five overs!
Yes, Sa’s innings is over. Play will resume at 9.48 pm, in about ten minutes, and England has five overs to chase 69. More than two runs a ball, which is always a big question.
Let’s hope that is not the end of the competition. It is perhaps the end of the South African innings, which was very good as long as it lasted. Markram set the tone with a muscular 28 of 14 balls, and when the PowerPlay ended, the younger batters just approached the practice for the crowd. Stubbs managed a four, but Brevis and Ferreira only had six eyes – and they each collected three. Wickets fell regularly as soon as England held their catches, but the South Africans had no problems because they either started well (all the above) or end up early (Rickelton, Pretorius). I know nothing about nine-over cricket, but this feels like a winning score.
Rain stops play!
7.5 Overs: South Africa 97-5 (Ferreira 25, Jansen 1) There is just time for Ferreira to hit another sixAs if you pulled off in the second hole. And they are gone because it is flows again.
Wicket! Stubbs B Overton 13 (SA 90-5)
I take it back! Overton beats Stubbs with an expert Yorker.
7.1 Overs: South Africa 90-4 (Ferreira 19, Stubbs 13) Brook decides to surrender Jamie Overton for a second. HMM – He can be quite floating … and his first ball is being lifted for six By Stubbs!
7th about: South Africa 84-4 (Ferreira 19, Stubbs 7) The problem of England is that when they leave a young South Africa Blaster, another steps in to take his place. Tristan Stubbs immediately joins the pleasure with a flash for four. Donovan Ferreira has 19 out of 10 balls, and he is only the fourth fastest score in these innings.
Wicket! Brevis C Dawson B Curran 23 (SA 73-4)
Sam Curran is back, darling, back,. He strikes with his first ball! Brevis, bent by a slow balloon, can only go to Dawson on the backward point chips.
6th about: South Africa 73-3 (Brevis 23, Ferreira 15) Brevis’ Eye is now that he can even hit Rashid six – Not straight but square, to the long border. Ferreira sees him and says he will have a little bit of it – Six and another six. Twenty off the over, and this partnership is already 36 (from 14).
5th about: South Africa 53-3 (Brevis 16, Ferreira 2) Brook, encouraged by that over, will turn at both ends. This means that Liam Dawson has the short straw, also known as the short straight border. The eyes of Dewald Brevis lights up and he touches a masive straight right six, followed by a lake six. Dawson recovers well (dot, one, one), but SA is back in the steering chair.
4th about: South Africa 38-3 (Brevis 3, Ferreira 1) That is typically excellent from Adil Rashid: six balls, four points, one big wicket.
Wicket! Markram C Wood B Rashid 28 (SA 36-2)
No mistake this time. Markram is launching one of his top edges to the night sky. It is friendly to Luke Wood at Midwicket, and he remains calm and dismisses the most important man in South Africa.
If you are a fan of England, you can relax. Adil Rashid arrives.
3rd about: South Africa 34-2 (Markram 26, Brevis 1) So Luke Wood has both wickets that have fallen so far. And he ends with 2-0-21-2.
Wicket! Pretorius C Brook B Wood 2 (SA 33-2)
That’s how it is done! Harry Brook takes an excellent dive halfway to abandon the teenager Pretorius. It all happens.
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